Two weeks into the NBA season, the Memphis Grizzlies are 4-2. How did one of 2017-18’s worst teams suddenly become good again?
Grit and Grind was officially declared dead on Nov. 26, 2017. With the team struggling at 7-12, Mike Conley injured, and Marc Gasol fuming, the Grizzlies fired David Fizdale, and shifted into full-on tank mode. With a depleted roster and aging, expensive core, it was assumed that the Grizzlies were dead in the water heading into this year.
Six games in, that’s far from the case. Memphis is 4-2, with wins over Utah and a reeling Washington team last night. While the Rockets, Thunder, and Lakers all sit far outside the West’s elite, Memphis is currently tied for the four seed. They’ve had a somewhat easy schedule, but still, through two weeks, this Memphis team looks legitimate.
How are they doing this? Is it vintage Marc Gasol coming back? Or outlier play from their supporting cast? The answer is a mixture of both. Here are three reasons for Memphis’s early success — and why it might be here to stay.
1. An absolutely vintage Grit-and-Grind play style
Memphis fell apart last year in large part because their defense cratered. Mike Conley got hurt early on, and their team defense never recovered, ranking 26th in the league in defensive efficiency at 110.2 points allowed per 100 possessions, per NBA.com. Entering last night’s Wizards game, however, the Grizzlies sit fourth in the NBA in that metric — allowing 101.8 points per 100 possessions. They’ve also gone back to their roots, as J.B. Bickerstaff has favored a return to the grinding pace of yore, with his team ranked 27th in the league.
This style of play favors the Grizzlies’ current roster set-up. Getting into more set plays offers Gasol more chances to play to his strengths, and favors the isolation tendencies of secondary playmakers like Shelvin Mack and Dillon Brooks. The Grizzlies have also been able to extend their outstanding turnover margin in this way. Entering last night, Memphis had an 11.1 percent turnover rate and was forcing turnovers on 15.8 percent of possessions, tops in the league. When you’re limiting possessions, that four-stop swing becomes even more pronounced.
J.B. Bickerstaff so far is translating principles of power football into basketball terms. Limit possessions. Protect the ball. Take the easy points when you get them, and play strong fundamental defense that capitalizes on shutting down efficiency at the expense of the rare breakdown. It’s not sexy, but it’s effective and consistent. In a year of offensive explosion, Memphis is going the opposite direction by controlling the margins.
2. Garrett Temple is the league’s most underrated player
Kyle Anderson was the Grizzlies’ marquee signing this summer, coming in on a restricted free agent deal that the San Antonio Spurs didn’t match. But so far, it’s been their other major acquisition that’s paid the most dividends. Memphis nabbed Temple from Sacramento in exchange for Deyonta Davis, Ben McLemore, and a second-round pick, an absolute steal of a deal for one of the league’s most under-appreciated players. The former LSU guard has carved out a great career by doing the little things on the margins, and responded to the trade by coming out of the gates in an absolute inferno. Temple’s stats to date: 14.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game on 45/52/86 shooting splits.
A 78.6 effective field goal percentage on catch-and-shoots probably isn’t sustainable, but Temple provides what the team hasn’t had since Courtney Lee was in town — a reliable off-movement shooter who provides support for the team’s more ball-dominant creators.
Defensively, Temple fits so well into Memphis’s defensive system. He’s a conservative defender and his size allows for the Grizzlies to experiment with three-guard lineups, such as the Conley/Shelvin Mack/Temple unit that flummoxed the Wizards last night.
Temple’s quietly been one of the league’s most reliable two-way wings over the past four years. His addition to Memphis so far has been fantastic, helping to unlock lineup versatility the team hasn’t had through the entirety of the Grit-and-Grind era. If he keeps this up, he should finally earn the respect he deserves, in the form of a free agent contract much higher than his current $8 million per year.
3. The specter of Jaren Jackson Jr.
The nice thing about being absolutely miserable for a season is that it usually nets a pretty good prospect in return. For the Grizzlies, that’s Jaren Jackson Jr. The Michigan State center hasn’t been perfect so far, but he’s had his flashes, and that could be something that helps swing this nice start into sustainable success.
Jackson’s averaging 11.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, and his finishing has been pretty decent to start the season. He has flashed the same off-the-dribble prowess that he showed at Michigan State, and his defense on space has been promising as well.
The problem so far has been foul trouble, which plagued him last night, as he played just ten minutes thanks to four quick fouls. Jackson’s footwork has been fairly bad, and he has struggled to figure out the timing of rotations, creating situations where he is late to contest.
This has been disappointing because his offensive skill set has really flourished so far. That’s pretty normal for rookie bigs, but still, the Grizzlies need Jackson to continue to progress throughout the season. Some of these gains from early in the season won’t last, such as Wayne Selden’s hot magma start. To maintain, the Grizzlies need better performance from their struggling supporting cast, most notably JJJ. If Jackson can get his fouling under control, he can help push the team’s defense to greater heights, and that could be the difference between fading and becoming a truly successful playoff season in the rugged West.